Add sugar and masala
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Sugar might give chai a sweet taste, but the bitter masala that no one would dare to eat by itself lifts the creation. Chai is meaningless without that kick. Life is full of adversities, and sometimes you might wish you did not go through the pain and suffering. But who would you be without it? Sometimes you might wish you did not accidentally bit into the cardamom you left in your tea, but those moments and experiences articulate who you are now, and look how far you have come. Life is all about trauma and joy. Without the bitterness filled with happy moments, you are a blank slate who has yet to experience what it is like to feel alive. So do not be afraid to add that sugar and your choice of masala in your foundation, and you will be surprised by how good life tastes.
Word Count: 147
I Am Not A Terrorist
I wrote this spoken word for a creative writing course. As a Muslim immigrant, navigating American society has been difficult.. After multiple negative encounters with people and their ideologies, I decided to perform this spoken word in front of the entire school. In a good life, positive experiences only seem positive due to the comparison with the negative experiences. It becomes more meaningful. The only way to learn to live a good life is by learning from the painful experiences and letting them guide you to a happier path. The mix of bitter spice and sugar makes life more enjoyable.
The Use of adversity
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In this course, one of the discussion assignments were about the uses of adversities. Haidt's Happiness Hypothesis taught me that although adversity seems negative because no one deserves to be in pain, it is perhaps a necessary evil. We cannot stop the reality of which we are affected. However, experiences are vital. We learn from our mistakes more than happy experiences. Each day, I am learning to balance out the sugar and spice and growing to love the taste of it.
Shaap ar Ami:
According to Uddipana Goswami, writing can heal an individual and alleviate their trauma. Our life stories are woven with adversities and traumas. Whom we have become is a product of all the good and bad things we have grown from. My form of translating trauma and learning is through art. The picture depicts a cartoon version of me, and my relationship with my mental health. Learning to coexist with it lead me to a path towards a good life. We are all struggling with something unknown, accepting the reality of that is the first step.